Cervical or neck support pillows or bolsters are used by seated individuals for comfort and to prevent neck strain. They are especially useful for heavy equipment operators exposed to large amplitude vibrations and shock on uneven ground.
Cylindrically shaped cervical pillows for attachment to chairs or to vehicle seats are well known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,484,355 of Gilbert is a pillow apparatus attachable to the back of a lawn chair by VELCRO® straps. Tiedemann, in his U.S. Pat. No. 6,748,615, describes a neck support pillow attachable to a vehicle seat back via adjustable straps. Other head support pillows include U.S. Design Pat. D445,506 of Vinson et al. and U.S. Design Pat. D382,164 of Hays.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,438 of Heffington describes a rotatable surgical thigh support panel 14 which is rectangular in crossection. Heffington '438 is not cylindrical in crossection, so it could not be manually adjusted while still behind the neck of the user, in that the longer longitudinal side edge axis of Heffington '438's rectangular padded support panel would, when rotated in the position directly behind a neck (if modified as a neck pillow), compel the user to awkwardly move the user's neck forward away from the rectangular padded support panel, to try and accommodate the longer longitudinal side axis of the support panel. Furthermore, if the user were to rotate the rectangular panel 90° to the short end, the short end would only contact a small portion of the user's neck and would therefore be contraindicated for supporting the neck. Also, Heffington '438 has clamps to fix the support panel in position, which could not be user operable while the user is sitting in position with the panel behind the neck of the user.
The seat back rest of U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,093 of Kawai does not rotate in a horizontal axis; instead it rotates in a vertical axis. Kawai '093 is not “manually adjustable”. Moreover, the abdominal support movable cushion of U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,542 of Kometani is repositionable, but not internally axially rotatable, because it has to be picked up and physically placed in position, since it does not have an internally rotatable axis member. Kometani '542 also is not circular in crossection.
The rigors of heavy equipment use often are associated with perspiration of the operator and with dusty or grimy environments. If a cervical pillow is used in such a vehicle, it can be appreciated that it will quickly become soiled or wet and uncomfortable. The prior art does not reveal a rotatable cervical pillow which can mitigate these problems.